Edric Royes was a man of many words. Too bloody many.

So many, in fact, that as the world began to tilt and twirl from the wine he’d made the mistake in drinking, Vadim found himself completely lost halfway through, having no idea what the man was blathering on about. 

He had to force himself to tune back in, letting himself relax back in his chair, crossing his ankles, fingers cradling an empty chalice to his chest. It was with a straining half ear that Vadim heard the man drone on in his musical Baudelairian accent.

“—will fulfill any fantasy your heart desires. In lots of ways, Shion is a wish granter, he has an incredible talent, unmatched by anyone else in the world. He’s such a rarity, so spellbinding that elite the world over have paid thousands just to get their hands on him again, and you can have him, your lordship, for such a simple price, so low the cost would be to you—”

“What’s his talent again?”

Edric paused, mildly disquieted upon realizing Vadim had not heard most of his spiel. “He’s a shapeshifter.”

Vadim’s brows twitched. “Shapeshifter? As in, he can change his form into—what, other people?”

“Anything.”

The answer came so quick, Vadim had to take a pause just to be sure of what he was hearing. “Say that again.”

“Anything,” Edric repeated, and then, as if just realizing he finally had the legion commander’s undivided attention, leaned forward with eyes shining with secretive mirth. “He can change into anything, you need only specify—perhaps show him one of those new inventions, what were they called…? Photographs. Yes, if he sees it, he can turn into it.”

Vadim could not suspend his disbelief that far. “Inanimate objects, too?”

Edric winced. “Ah, no, let me amend. Anything living.”

“Plants?”

“No, no, don’t be absurd—” Edric said with a chuckle before his words sunk in.

Vadim made a show of lifting his brows. “I’m being absurd, am I? Is a tree not living?”

“No! I mean, yes! I mean, I only meant—”

“His ability is limited to animals.”

“Yes! Yes, animals. One of his favorite forms to take on is that of—” Edric paused, cheeks coloring as he thought better of his words. “Well, it might not be my place to speak of it in front of—”

“Out with it already,” Vadim muttered, rubbing a thumb down the side of his goblet.

He never did have much patience with people that minded their words around him, especially when in private. Dragged things out, wasted time.

Edric winced prematurely. “Rat. He likes to turn into a rat. Unsightly, disease ridden things, I know, but Shion has a certain fondness for them that he’s never quite outgrown.”

Inwardly, this intrigued Vadim, who had never seen so much of a rat’s tail in his entire life. Outwardly, however, in the face of a man he’d never met prior, he kept his expression cool, unaffected. 

“Has he done much espionage work then?”

“Espionage? No, not much of it,” Edric lied.

The man did not appear to realize who he was talking to, Vadim noted with wry indifference. How curious it was that the only time Edric seemed to stop talking, was when he was being dishonest.

“You see, he’s more popular for his skill in... other places,” Edric said truthfully, greatly emphasizing what he meant by that with a playful wink.

A whore, then.

Lords, that was a disappointment. What a waste of gods’ given talent.

“But he spies for you,” Vadim stated matter-of-factly as he loosened his grip on his chalice and straightened out his numbing legs, almost grasping at straws in the hope that this evening wouldn’t turn out to be a total waste. “Is he here now?”

“He’s at an inn close by,” Edric lied, gritting his teeth ever so slightly. “Beldane, I believe it was called.”

“Hm.” Unconvinced, Vadim did a quick surreptitious glance around the large antique room before once again meeting Edric’s gaze. “I met you for Baltazar’s sake. He said that you had a matter of importance to discuss with me, or was I ill-informed?” At his long hesitance, Vadim thoughtfully added, “For your sake, I presume a whore’s offer is not so important that you’d go through the trouble of requesting a member of the senate to arrange this meeting.”

“Ah, well,” Edric hesitated, glancing away as the color in his face began to leach out, “not exactly a whore’s offer anymore, I suppose. Sir Baltazar did inform me that you might appreciate other aspects of Shion’s talents.”

“Espionage,” Vadim agreed. A good spy was hard to find, and a spy that could shapeshift? Priceless. Or worth the weight of an entire city-state like Chauncy in gold.

No, he couldn’t blame Baltazar for this miserable evening.

“Er, yes, espionage.”

“Do you own him?” Vadim asked, suddenly struck by the thought as he wondered at Edric’s peculiar behavior. Slavery was, of course, long since outlawed in the Fairel empire and the states the empire had imperial control over, but the workarounds foreign slave traders had found were holes that had still yet to be plugged by the lords and senate of the thirteen.

For all Vadim knew, this Shion could be an indentured servant working to pay off debts.

There was really no other reason Vadim could think of to explain Edric’s role in this.

“Shion is, ah... a free spirit. There is no owning a man like him,” Edric murmured with an awkward chuckle.

Somewhere in his words was a lie, something deceitful that set Vadim uneasy. He eyed the brunet man for a moment. Then, with a soft chuff, he rose from the stiff wooden chair, placed his chalice on the nearest table and said, decisively, “I’d like to make his acquaintance then.”

Edric exhaled in relief and brightened considerably. “Excellent! You won’t regr—”

“Alone. I’d like to meet his acquaintance alone so that we may discuss his fees privately.”

With widening golden brown eyes, Edric looked for a moment like he’d just popped a lemon slice in his mouth. His nodding was pained, slow, begrudging. “Of course, your lordship. When might that fit into your schedule?”

Vadim turned his gaze toward the long ornately arched windows that’d been open to a clear view of the midnight sky. “I presume tonight would work best for the both of us. No sense in waiting when we’re all here already.”

“Er, your lordship—”

“Shion, I assume,” Vadim said, directing his words towards the petite white bird that had perched itself on the window sill, barely visible behind the billowing curtains, cleaning its wings with a slim beak.

For a moment there was a silence as the bird tipped its head back and bobbed its head as if to laugh.

Then, without further ado, the bird took off into the sky.

“Your lordship, he isn’t here—” Edric continued, only to be cut off when a flurry of white activity interrupted him, the curtains swaying, a sweetness filling the air.

Vadim breathed in deeply, turned his gaze and watched calmly as a large mass dove through the window and within seconds, where once was a bird, sat a naked golden-eyed man dangling his bare feet above the stone floors. 

He was grinning.